Saturday, November 10, 2007

Church Sign Theology

I recently drove by a local church with one of those cutesy church signs out front, this one proclaiming:

Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven.

Well, first off, I suppose I should affirm what is true about this statement. Christians aren't perfect. I would assess that the lingering nature of depravity is a correct doctrine of humanity. And Christians are forgiven. That is the grace of the Gospel message, the forefront concern of Christ's incarnation and the peace/shalom we are enabled to bring to the world. So, yes, forgiveness. Good. Very well done on the soteriology.

Having said all that, church signs are for the benefit of those outside the church (seems obvious given their location.) Those outside the church are unsually not INSIDE the church for a reason. And, if you ask your run-of-the-mill 10am Sunday gardener/runner/New York Times reader why they aren't in church, I'm guessing you'll hear something about the hypocrisy and irrelevance of organized religion. So,

In a world where Christians scream hate at scared, pregnant 16-year-old girls who don't know where else to turn
And priests molest little children
And pastors carry placards proclaiming, "God hates fags"
And the affluence of most churches is chilling in the face of worldwide AIDS, violence and war
And church elders tell women with black eyes to go back home and submit
And deacons turn away people who can't turn on their heat

If you were a non-church person, how would you hear the quip,

Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven?

Because, in the context of very real and lamentable failures on the part of church folk, this piece of church sign theology sounds, to me, like a giant "Screw you!" You (people outside the church) can't hold anything against us.
Jesus doesn't care anymore that the Christian kids in your 3rd grade class mocked you senseless because your mom was an atheist. They're forgiven.
Jesus doesn't care anymore that your Christian neighbor was way too cheery in her assessment of your father's front-row seat to inferno post-mortem. She's forgiven.
Jesus doesn't care anymore that your former preist or pastor told you that people with your kind of problem aren't welcome anymore. He's forgiven.

Nanny-nanny-boo-boo, WE'RE forgiven. Now, wouldn't you like to join us this Sunday? We have lovely programming for you children.

18 comments:

Brian said...

This post and the last one RULE.

pastor cindy said...

You are so right. So right.
Now do you want to know the funniest church sign I've seen lately?
"Whorship is like hugging God"
A little challenge in the spelling department and a completely interesting message results.

Rachel said...

I would probably see it as piously glossing over terrible sins committed by professing Christians. In the spirit of the T in TULIP, maybe we should change that sign to, "We're totally fucked up." ;)

But in all seriousness, the issue you bring up is one I think we should struggle with more. All the dis-unity and shadiness in the church are driving people away from Christ and we're coming up with chirpy little quips. Ugh!

I was at CTS for the Stob lectures on Wed, and my roommate and I were rather intrigued by the Covenant Room. What's in there, anyway?

redheadrev said...

I really dislike those sayings put on signs. It's very rare, in my opinion, that they actually say anything of value and there are far too many times when things are spelled wrong. I'm glad our church doesn't have that kind of sign.

Lauralew said...

Good to read you again, Meg.

Of course, you are right. I used to be a more fundamentalist Christian until I realized that those rules were used to determine who is in and who was out--and for various reasons, I always was out. I've kinda swung way to the other side--which has my more conservative relations wondering if I'm still a Christian at all. Oh well. I see it now as more about relationship than rules.

One of my pals said it best: "The reasons there aren't more Christians are Christians."

Krista said...

I really appreciate your posts!

Susan said...

great reflections Meg! It brings to mind another church sign I saw out east "The Bible is on your side."

Maybe instead of signs we should keep our doors open and tear down the fences, gates, and cement barricades. I fear the western Church has marooned herself on a desert island.

Anima Sola said...

What every church sign should say: 'All are welcome.'

RevDougLovejoy said...

Once again, well said, sister!

Your topic reminds me of a website I visit occasionally: www.crummychurchsigns.com.

The postings there (oddly, but perhaps appropriately) remind me of one of the promo slogans from one of the Wayne's World movies: "You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hurl."

m. said...

I don't like these types of church signs, either. Having felt (and judged to be) on the outside for a fairly large portion of my life, I still find the messages on these signs to typically be senseless unless you know Christianese, or to be really off-putting (often both at the same time, come to think of it).

I like the idea of a sign that says "all are welcome", and I've seen some, but the problem is that usually that's not true in practice.

If you're pro-choice, or pro-life, or gay, or conservative, or liberal--pierced, not pierced ;-) --there's always someone who is excluded.

Randy said...

haven't read you in a while Meg... good post. :)

Lorraine said...

Been a while since I stopped by. This post is a good reminder of why I shouldn't be a stranger.

The Caldwells said...

Amen! Ok... I got a cheesy one I saw the week before I left to come back to Austria... where I'm thankful they don't have these silly signs.

"It's not Thanksgiving, it's Thanksliving"
Do we really need to make up new words?!?!?

Mother Laura said...

Brilliant, Meg. Thank you.

SB said...

Is the flip side of this the idea that, perhaps, the people who do the horrible things you outline in your post are not truly Christian? The best of the Pharisees, instead?

*thinks* *shrugs*

I love your blog - please keep writing, and best of luck with all of the qualification stuff coming your way in '08!

Beth said...

I think this just highlights the fact that loving on the lost is about just that - ME obeying the Lord's command to love and to be light/salt, because there ARE hypocrites and way, way too much "holy huddle" going on among believers and professing believers.

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